ILONGOT/BUGKALOT

The Bugkalot (also Ilongot or Ibilao) are a tribe inhabiting the southern Sierra Madre and
Caraballo Mountains, on the east side of Luzon in the Philippines, primarily in the provinces of
Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija and along the mountain border between the provinces of
Quirino and Aurora. They were formerly headhunters. Headhunting raids are often associated
with death, rage, and compensation at the loss of a loved one.

Presently, there are about 87,000 Bugkalots. The Bugkalots tend to inhabit areas close to rivers,
as they provide a food source and a means for transportation. Their native language is the
Bugkalot language, currently spoken by about 50,000 people. They also speak the Ilocano
language.

Culture
In Ivan Salva's study in 1980 of the Bugkalots, she described "gender differences related to the
positive cultural value placed on adventure, travel, and knowledge of the external world."
Bugkalot men, more often than women, visited distant places. They acquired knowledge of the
outside world, gathered experiences there, and returned to share their knowledge, adventures,
and feelings in a public oratory in order to pass on their knowledge to others. The Bugkalot men
received recognition as a result of their experiences. Because they lacked external experience
on which to base knowledge and expression, Bugkalot women had inferior prestige.

Based on Michelle Rosaldo's study and findings of other stateless societies, anthropologists
must distinguish between prestige systems and actual power within a society. Just because a
male has a high level of prestige, he may not own much economic or political power compared
to others that are less prestigious within the society.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ILONGOT

Ilongot recognizes a range of supernatural beings including a creator-overseer deity associated

with the sun, as well as ancestral spirits. They are most concerned, however, with nature spirits
and illness-giving spirits.

Traditional Ilongot religion revolves around helpful and dangerous supernatural beings. Illnesses
are believed to be caused by supernatural beings who lick or urinate on their victims. Shamans
preside over curing ceremonies, and spirits are kept away by bathing, smoking, and sweeping.

Indigenous religion
● Delan: deity of the moon, worshiped with the sun and stars; congenial with Elag; during
quarrels, Elag sometimes covers Delan's face, causing the different phases of the moon;
giver of light and growth
● Elag: deity of the sun, worshiped with the moon and stars; has a magnificent house in
the sky realm called Gacay; retreats to his home during nights; giver of light and growth
● Pandac: deity of the stars, worshiped with the sun and moon; giver of light and growth
 ● Cain: the headhunter creator of mankind; gave customs to the people; lived together
with Abel in the sky but separated due to a quarrel
● Abel: prayed to when wishing long lives for children; lived together with Cain in the sky
but separated due to a quarrel
● Keat: personification of lightning, depicted as the road of Cain and Abel
● Kidu: personification of thunder, which follows Keat
● Gemang: guardian of wild beasts
● Oden: deity of the rain, worshiped for its life-giving waters
● Tawen: personification of the sky
● Kalao: spirit birds; depicted as red hornbills who guide and protect hunters and their soul
● Be'tang: unpredictable shape-shifting spirit-creatures living in the forests or wilderness
called Gongot; youth and softness are their properties, while they can also alter a
human's sense of time; they may take the form of a white dog, a large deer, a horse with
a hanging tongue, a naked woman, or beings with grotesque shapes, whose attributes
range from long arms and legs, small heads, oversized feet, fur bodies, to hairless
bodies; they may also enter a person's dreams or paralyze a human
● Ga'ek Spirits: spirits in the Ga'ek magic plant used in for hunting and fishing; the naw-
naw prayer is given to them

Gallery of Bugkalot art

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A headdress made of horn bill, shell, wire, rattan and hair
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A bracelet made of brass, beads and mother of pearl

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A necklace made of brass, mother-of-pearl and beads

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Men's ear pendants made of hornbill, discs of shell, beads and brass
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Earrings made of shell, brass and beads

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A hair ornament
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A pendant made of Japanese coins, brass, aluminum and glass

 ●

Men's ear pendants (batling) made of hornbill, brass, shell, and cotton

Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdWoK_p7tdc

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugkalot

The Gaddang - an indigenous Filipino people - are a linguistically identified ethnic group
resident for centuries in the watershed of the Cagayan River in Northern Luzon, Philippines.
Gaddang speakers were recently reported to number as many as 30,000.

The Gaddang once comprised a large group in the Cagayan Valley region and are mostly found
in Central Isabela, Nueva Vizaya, Quirino, and Cagayan. Most of them can also speak Ilocano,
the lingua franca of Northern Luzon; the Gaddang language is closely related to Agta, Atta,
Ibanag, Isneg, Itawis, Malaweg, and Yogad.

Gaddang comes from the word ga meaning "heat" and dang meaning "burned"; this likely
alludes to the fact that the Gaddang are generally darker of skin than other Cordillera peoples.
Many Gaddang live in the highlands of southeastern Kalinga-Apayao and eastern Bontok and
Isabela provinces.

Geographic Distribution

The Gaddang people were identified as I-gaddang (likely meaning 'brown-colored people') by
the Spanish in the early 1600s, and differentiated from the Igorots of the highlands by physique,
skin color, homelands, and lifestyle.

Gaddang Culture

Highlands culture
Many writers on tourism and cultural artifacts appear captivated by the more exotic cultural
accessories of the highlands Gaddang (Ga'dang), and consequently, pay little attention to the
more numerous "assimilated" Christianized families. This narrative follows from the initial
American assumption that lowland Gaddang originated with the highlands groups who
subsequently became Christianized, then settled in established valley communities, acquiring
the culture and customs of the Spanish, Chinese, and the other lowlands peoples. Many of them
also distinguish the Gaddang residents of Ifugao and Apayo from other mountain tribes primarily
by dress customs without considering language issues.

Class and economy

Interviews in the mid-20th century identified a pair of Gaddang hereditary social classes:
kammeranan and aripan. These terms have long fallen into disuse, but comparing old parish
records with landholdings in desirable locations in Bagabag, Bayombobg, and Solano indicates
that some real effects of class distinctions remain active. The writer's Gaddang correspondents
inform him that aripan is similar in meaning to the Tagalog word alipin ("slave" or "serf");
Edilberto K. Tiempo addressed issues surrounding the aripan heritage in his 1962 short story To
Be Free.

Records over the last two centuries do show many Gaddang names as land and business
owners, as well as in positions of civic leadership. The Catholic church also offered career
opportunities. Gaddang residents of Bayombong, Siudad ng Santiago, and Bagabag
enthusiastically availed themselves of the expanded education opportunities available since the
early 20th century, producing a number of doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, and other
professionals by the mid-1930s. A number also enlisted in the U.S. military service as a career
(the U.S. Army Philippine Scouts being considered far superior to the Philippine Army).

Status of women and minor children

Lowlands Gaddang women regularly own and inherit property, run businesses, pursue
educational attainment, and often serve in public elected leadership roles. There appear to be
no prevailing rules of exogamy or endogamy which affect women's status or treatment. Both
men and women acquire status by marriage, but there are acceptable pathways to prestige for
single women in the Church, government, and business.

A well-known Gaddang language song from the early 20th century:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt1n5gqkJmg
Ope manke wayi Where are you my brother?
Yo netambam siin sicuac What about your promises?
Innac la inanawan You left me to die of misery.
Matayac si raddam You found someone better.
Gumafu se nacaita can wayi si mas mappia Because I am poor,
On se tata ak lamang a madiat you had to leave me
Innac la inanawan

Araon-araon lamang This keeps on hurting.

Yo angngiyeyut nu to taggang Breath leaves my chest,
Malaw inque nad aching since my heart was cast aside.
Yo futuc a mebattang I try to think of it no more,
Se ammec ingke caffuadan yet my tears keep falling.
Yo annuruturut na luac to taggang So I die of sorrow because of you...
 Se antuengque ipatec
Yo raddam cu gumafu sicuam

Gaddangs weaving

Ikat or ikkat, is a style of weaving that uses a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either
the warp or weft before the threads are woven to create a pattern or design.

Indigenous mythology
The Gaddang mythology includes a variety of deities:
● Nanolay - Is both creator of all things and a cultural hero. In the latter role, he is a
beneficent deity. Nanolay is described in myth as a fully benevolent deity, never inflicting
pain or punishment on the people. He is responsible for the origin and development of
the world.
● Ofag - Nanolay's cousin.
● Dasal - To whom the epic warriors Biwag and Malana prayed for strength and courage
before going off to their final battle.
● Bunag - The god of the earth.
● Limat - The god of the sea.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaddang_people
https://www.csueastbay.edu/museum/virtual-museum/the-philippines/peoples/gaddang.html

IKALAHAN/KALANGUYA

The Ikalahan are otherwise referred to as the Kalanguya, which is a subgroup of the Ifugao tribe
in the northern part of the Philippines. They live in villages nestled in the Caraballo Mountains
located 250 kilometers north of Manila and 7 kilometers off the Santa Fe Highway. The
Kalanguya (also sometimes referred to as the Ikalahan) are an Austronesian ethnic group most
closely associated with the Philippines' Cordillera Administrative Region, but whose core
population can be found across an area that also includes the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya,
Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan. While this area spans Region I, the Cordillera Administrative
Region, and Region II, it represents a largely geographically contiguous area.

The term "Kallahan" is sometimes also used to refer to the Kalanguya people's native language.
Kalanguya was once the most spoken language in most parts of today's Benguet, Nueva
Vizcaya, Ifugao, Mt. Province, and some parts of Nueva Ecija.
The Kalanguya population in Nueva Vizcaya has also been identified in anthropological
literature as "Ikal-lahan".

Those who reside in Tinoc and Buguias call themselves Kalangoya. Those who reside in Nueva
Vizcaya and Quirino call themselves Ikalahans. In the past this ethnolinguistic group was known
as Kalanggutan, Keley'I, Mandek'ey, Yatukka, or Kalangoya. The Kalanguya are considered a
subgroup of the Ifugao people.
Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tObjSCjQiUc

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalanguya_people